In many communities across the country, hidden within the sea of cars, trucks and SUVs coming and going, parked in a lot or street side, there are vehicles which are in some way associated with an infraction or crime. The violation could be anything from a misdemeanor to a felony; unpaid parking fines to delinquent taxes to involvement in a homicide or anything in-between. Law enforcement agencies everywhere are embracing ELSAG North America’s license plate reader (LPR) technology, the Mobile Plate Hunter-900® (MPH-900®), to help them identify these vehicles on the spot. Fixed and mobile versions of the license plate readers are being credited with helping to find offenders quicker and solve cases faster, while keeping officers safer than ever before.

The components of ELSAG’s MPH-900 LPR system are cameras, usually two, mounted to the hood or trunk of a patrol car, a processor, which is usually installed in the trunk, and a database of license plates that are suspected of being involved with illegal activity. The database, known as a “Hot List,” is stored on the in-car computer. As the patrol unit passes or is passed by cars, the cameras read the license plates and instantaneously compare them to the Hot List. If there is a match, the patrol officer will receive visual and audible alarms from his in-car computer and can look in the immediate vicinity to find the suspect vehicle and stop it.

Agencies who deploy license plate readers maximize the use of their technology by applying it to any mission or challenge that involves vehicles. Highway and traffic safety, missing persons cases, perimeter security, school bus and campus safety, even Homeland Security initiatives are all operations successfully aided with LPR. Now,

with a new Hot List developed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), some state law enforcement agencies are using their LPR for commercial motor vehicle (CMV) enforcement. Each state’s commercial motor vehicle enforcement is most often handled by the Department of Transportation (DOT). With the new Hot List provided by FMCSA, LPR assists CMV enforcementby identifying the license plates of vehicles which have repeatedly received citations. Typically, fixed LPR systems are installed at weigh stations where they can read plates of CMVs entering the checkpoint. If the LPR system reads a plate associated with repeat citations or a less than desirable safety record, officers will receive alarms from the system and can decide whether or not to stop the truck. “We’re helping many of our clients integrate plate reader CMV enforcement measures to their policing strategies,” said Jason Laquatra, ELSAG’s VP of Operations. “LPR provides a very efficient way to identify repeat offenders who are more likely to risk the safety of others on the highway.”

One additional way LPR assists CMV enforcement is by using Hot Lists that define a broader range of violations or crimes such as the National Crime Information Center list. This will alert officials if a CMV is suspected of being involved in missing persons cases, drug trafficking or any other illegal activity unrelated to vehicular safety.

Many state DOT’s are already adopting practices facilitated by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) movement to create virtual weigh-In stations. These unmanned stations are automated to collect data, which allow for the screening of CMVs based on their safety and compliance records. The data provides an efficient way to weed out the violators, allowing non-violators to pass through the checkpoint without delay. LPR assets used as a complement to virtual weigh-in station technologies allow for incremental efficiency and flexibility on the ground. Furthermore, LPR offers numerous preventive safety measures without requiring additional officers or personnel to operate the systems so deployments for plate reader CVM enforcement are likely to increase quickly across the country.

To learn more about the MPH-900 LPR system or how to integrate LPR with your CMV enforcement efforts, contact ELSAG today. www.elsag.com// info@elsag.com// 877-77-ELSAG (773.5724).